Heartland Express

Heartland Express

Heartland Express is a transportation and logistics services company that offers regional, long haul, and dedicated truckload services to the United States and Canada. Founded in 1978 with headquarters in North Liberty, Iowa, the company reported 2013 revenue of $582 million, up 6.7 percent year-over-year. The company also reported a net income of $70.6 million, up 15 percent from the previous year.

Heartland Express and its subsidiaries employ 5,220 individuals and operate a fleet of approximately 2,400 trucks. The primary industries Heartland serves are retail, manufacturing, automotive, food, paper and plastic, and consumer goods.

Large, diversified truckload carriers found detours around the "soft patch" in the U.S. economy during the first quarter, with most increasing revenue and profit. A lack of drivers may have held back some companies.

The third quarter was good to practically all the publicly owned U.S. trucking companies: none reported losses, and their combined revenue rose 10.7 percent to more than $10 billion, supported by a second quarter of stronger freight demand and economic growth.

A review of publicly owned trucking company earnings in the second quarter shows the strength of freight demand building up as the U.S. economy expanded, supporting growing expectations of a busier than typical peak shipping season in North America this fall.